


Jailbreak

by HeathenVampires



Series: Three Psychopaths, One Tardis [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: BAMF River Song, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, Multi, River Song Being River Song, River has chains, Spoilers for Episode: s12e10 The Timeless Children, Threesome - F/F/M, and a GUN, and she very much approves of her wife, canon got messy and so will they, shameless excuse for shipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:55:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23152102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeathenVampires/pseuds/HeathenVampires
Summary: Of all the ways the Doctor expected to meet River Song in her current regeneration, a break out from the Stormcage with the Master in chains was not ranked high on the list of possibilities.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/River Song, Thirteenth Doctor/River Song/The Master
Series: Three Psychopaths, One Tardis [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769059
Comments: 23
Kudos: 82





	1. Chapter 1

**A threesome idea that has been nagging away at my brain for days on end! I really must congratulate Jodie + Sacha for the phenomenal chemistry they have as Doctor + Master. And Alex Kingston, because River is a goddess with a gun.**

**So... spoilers for the veeeeery end of S12, I guess? It's not really gonna take on a huge amount of canon compliance. River's alive. Fuck the timelines. And Time Lords. Sometimes literally. Shameless lover of River's chaotic energy.  
**

-DW-

The Doctor paced around her cell, wishing (not for the first time) that she'd actually _listened_ to River about how she broke out of prison all the time. Because sure, the Doctor had broken out of a lot of places, but only River had the casual confidence to call her captors up to let them know she was back from the last break out, it had happened so many times.

"Ohhh, what I wouldn't give for River right now."

"Well, aren't you in luck!"

Whirling around so fast her coat billowed - rather dramatic and cool looking if she did say so herself - the Doctor almost fell over in shock.

"Am I hallucinating?"

"Possibly, but not because of my lipstick. Well! I must say, I am _loving_ the change."

River - actually standing there, with her magnificent hair and lethal curves (clearly, the Doctor still appreciated her wife despite the 'female' regeneration!) - looked the Doctor over with avid interest and a glitter in her eyes.

After a minute (and an indignant growl), the Doctor realised something.

"How... why do you have him?"

"Oh. I found him crash landing on a planet where I was stealing- never mind. And I saw the outfit and thought he must be _you,_ dressed so ridiculously" the Master growled again "oh do be quiet dear. Now, let's work on the escape and do question time later!"

River grabbed hold of the Master by the chain connecting cuffs to a metal collar (and somehow the Doctor wasn't even a _little_ surprised River just happened to have that on her) and used her free hand to beckon the Doctor along before _shooting_ the door open.

"Was that necessary?"

"No, but it's fun!"

Rolling her eyes, she followed her maverick wife and attached Time Lord prisoner along a shockingly empty corridor.

"Where are we going?"

"Exit! There's a couple of spots where vortex manipulators and the like work, so some official types can get in and out."

"Where are the guards?"

"Dealing with the alarm I tripped ov-" there was a shout, and a shot whizzed past their heads "oh, there they are! This way!"

 _I definitely need new boots, these are all worn out from the running!_ the Doctor thought to herself, and she heard River threaten to leave him as a distraction when the Master started trying to slow them down. They skidded around a corner and River's words became truth as they reached a spot with signs saying "designated transport spot". Bit obvious, but very helpful. The Doctor wondered if there was a docking bay somewhere, or if they could _only_ get in and out by some kind of pop-in-and-out. Like the TARDIS.

Oh, where was the TARDIS?

"Quick! Grab hold or stay here!"

With their hands clasped around the vortex manipulator on River's wrist, they vanished just as a platoon of Judoon not on the moon were about to reach them. She wasn't totally sure where they landed, reeling from the discomfort of being hurtled at speed by that tacky tech of River's. She didn't complain out loud. River _had_ just jail-breaked... jail-broke? her. The important thing was, she was out.

"We need to find the TARDIS!"

"Already on it. You're lucky she likes me. Hold this."

She held the hand clutching the Masters chains out. The Doctor gripped them tightly, but the Master seemed surprisingly content to stay there. Given that they were in the middle of somewhere that didn't have much going on, and she could tell if they stayed outside too long the really powerful two suns in the sky would slowly kill them, he probably wanted to get in the TARDIS too.

Doing something complicated-looking with her TARDIS key, River beckoned them over.

"Hold on tight!"

Feeling a bit like her insides were going to be on her outsides soon, the Doctor stumbled but felt relief flood her at the familiar sounds and smells and sights of the TARDIS.

"Ugh, cheap and nasty but we're back! Miss me girl? I don't know how long I was gone... how did you know I was in the Stormcage?"

"Oh, I broke in to the records a long time ago" River pulled a clearly-modified pocket computer from one of her pockets "and I get updates. I couldn't _believe_ when I saw your name. What is it you did?"

"Not entirely sure. There was some angry Judoon platoons and some other angry Gallifreyans and I never did find out what my crime was, just that I was a 'fugitive'. Do the records not say?"

River tapped at her computer, shaking her head.

"No, but they don't always write it down. Very hush hush. The Stormcage is outside of most jurisdictions after all... did you say _other_ Gallifreyans?"

Nodding, the Doctor rubbed the back of her head, thinking. She hadn't quite processed all of that and how it connected to her imprisonment yet, too busy focusing on how to escape. But she couldn't tell River too much. She hadn't even sorted through the whole Timeless Child thing in her head yet either.

"Yeah. They were from the past. Long story I do not know most of! So... do we still do diaries? I haven't been filling mine in, because I can't find it! And what are we doing about him? Where did you even find him?"

Probably already plotting how best to be a huge pain in the neck, the Master was surprisingly complacent for the minute. River looked him over, then laughed to herself.

"Like I said. Crash landing. Ridiculous clothes. Although, I think your outfit might _actually_ be stranger... I can't even imagine what your next regeneration might wear, based on the pattern I'm seeing."

"Hey!"

"Oh, you know I find it part of your charm. And I do like the coat."

"It's got such big pockets!"

Oh, she'd gone all 21st Century Earthling there - Yaz was always complaining that womens clothing didn't have enough pockets. Or _any_ pockets, sometimes. Did they think women had nothing to carry around with them?

"Where did you crash land? How did you escape the bomb?"

The Master glared at her, but that venom in his gaze had lost its edge from before. He looked almost... defeated. Still with that same manic edge that defined him for so long, she noted, but there was a part of him that left Gallifrey broken by the discovery of her truth, the ruin of their home planet and the defeat of his Cyber Lords.

Even psychopaths needed time to recoup.

"The Cyberium. It wanted to survive. Not sure if it did, nor do I care."

He'd been looking a little peaky the last time she saw him thanks to the Cyberium. The Doctor scanned him with her screwdriver, which he rolled his eyes at.

"Nope. Nothing there. I hope it was destroyed, not dumped in to space somewhere to be found again."

That probably took something out of him... maybe that was why he was so well behaved. He tried to lower his arms, but the chains didn't have enough give. With a sound somewhere between a yawn and a sigh, the Master turned to the two women standing there.

"So... what _are_ you going to do with me?"

-DW-

**I planned to finish this as a one shot, but then I got sidetracked working on commissions, so I opted to tie this part up (*childish snickering*) and then the _answer_ to that question can come next (*more snickering*). Uh. Yeah. That's it. As River said... kiss kiss.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**I honestly didn't mean to leave this half finished for so long, eek!**

**On with the fun! Contains a personal headcanon or two, I guess. And sort of maybe references Incarnations without being a sequel. Idk. This got very out of hand.  
**

-DW-

The Doctor tapped her foot against the floor, which reminded her she needed new boots, and started thinking about clothes... yanking her brain back on course, she looked at River, then back to the Master, a memory sparking in her mind.

"Stormcage!"

"You are _not_ locking me in the Stormcage!"

"Noooo, don't be silly. You'd cause a riot, then escape. That guy who was in the Stormcage, the rude one who didn't like Rosa Parks" both her current companions looked absolutely bewildered "as part of his parole, he had to have a neural restricter put in! Unable to kill or seriously injure any living thing. Probably burn up if you regenerated, I've never put one in a Time Lord before, _but_ I happen to know you rather like the shape you're wearing."

He glared, attempting to scowl while still looking a bit off-colour.

"You are _not_ putting that thing in my brain. Or getting near my brain at all!"

The Doctor dropped down to one knee in front of him, resting her forearm on her knee for stability.

"You've always been keen to get inside _my_ head" there was a flicker in his face as he understood her weighted implications "and you don't get many choices. You can either stay here, on the TARDIS, in River's very lovely chains for the rest of your lives. Or, you can accept the inhibitor, and do whatever you like!"

He blinked.

"You'd... let me go?"

"After a bit. Just to make sure the thing took. Like I said, never been tested on a Time Lord."

The Master shook his head, as best he could with the chains on anyway.

"No. I'll escape eventually. I always do! And besides, you couldn't kill me on Gallifrey. You won't stop me now."

Quiet until now, River cocked her head in time with cocking her gun.

"Maybe she wouldn't kill you. But _I_ would."

He growled up at River, and it was clear he knew just how deadly serious the woman was. The Doctor was a bit distracted, because apparently she still _really_ liked it when River was a little bit naughty. _Focus, brain!_

"There will be no killing on this TARDIS!"

"Just making things clear dear."

River _winked,_ and the Doctor felt her hearts quicken. Knowing River, she probably heard it. Essentially half Time Lord (or was it half something else?), River had two hearts and better senses than any human. That, and she probably just _knew_ the Doctor was still very much affected by River despite the new body. Her previous regeneration had loved River deeply, but he wasn't much for physicality and so the heat of attraction was less towering inferno, more slow burning coals. And the one before _that_ had been _very_ physically interested in River, but effectively useless at getting past the flirting stage, even with River's forwardness.

Actually, she felt very much like that one now, forcing herself to focus back on the Master.

"Fine."

"What, really?"

He slumped, visibly drained, features painted with exhaustion.

"I _refuse_ to die being shot by the mongrel time vortex baby you married. Get this over with so I can take these infernal chains off!"

Well, first the Doctor needed to _get_ a neural restricter. If she'd been thinking, she could have stolen one from the Stormcage, but they were in a bit of a hurry at the time. And she was busy being surprised.

"You need a lie down anyway. Come on."

River refused to leave the Master alone, insistent she was fine to watch him while the Doctor went to sort out getting the necessary inhibitor. Not that leaving the two of them alone was _ideal,_ but she asked the TARDIS to keep an eye on them, and she was only gone for an hour. Well, an hour and a bit. A couple of hours. Six hours, tops. She had to break in to an intergalactic hospital and steal a neural restricter, and she was almost out before remembering she didn't have the instructions. After the incident with throwing the TARDIS manual in a supernova in a tantrum and then struggling to repair her machine, the Doctor wasn't taking chances and had to go back.

That was when security spotted her. There was a lot of running. Some screaming. An incident where she accidentally disturbed a Slitheen getting stitches, and the stopping to apologise almost got her caught.

Basically, by the time she got back to the TARDIS, a few hours had passed and she was slightly concerned that River and the Master would have killed each other or something equally terrible. Surprisingly, she found them sitting in relatively peaceful silence, though the tension could have been cut with a blunt spoon.

"And what sort of time do you call this?"

The Doctor felt a smile cross her face at the nostalgia - that was what River had said to her right before the time she - well, she was a he then - flew the Pandorica in to a crack through space and time to reset the universe.

"Ok, I was gone a bit longer than anticipated. There was maybe some guns and a misunderstanding with a species or two... but I got out! And I got the thing. I even brought the instruction manual, just in case. See, prepared!"

The Doctor knew pretty much how they worked, she'd just never put one in before. But she'd definitely done trickier things... probably. The real trick was going to be keeping her hands steady, as they had a tendency to fly about all over the place whenever she was excited. Which happened a lot. Her fam compared her to an oversized puppy sometimes.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

"Mostly. If I was gonna kill you, I'd let River do it. She wanted to dig a diamond out of someones brain with a sonic trowel once."

"I did?"

The Doctor winced.

"Oh. Whoops. Spoilers."

She'd forgotten about the fact they never met in the right order. Hell, the Doctor wasn't even entirely sure what point in River's timeline it was. She'd never mentioned meeting female Doctor, but then she had been very good about not divulging knowledge of future regenerations before.

"Ok, I've programmed this. I think. We'll find out when you wake up."

The Master rolled his eyes.

" _If_ I wake up."

"Well, the test when you wake up is you get to try and kill me, so I thought you'd be happy about that."

The Master let out a short bark of a laugh. River blanched.

"Doctor! What if it goes wrong?"

"Oh. I hadn't thought that far ahead. Well... I'll figure something out while he's resting. I'm good at plans on the fly."

With her wife rolling her eyes in the background, the Doctor dosed the Master so he'd sleep through the admittedly short procedure. Holding the restricter carefully so it wouldn't try and absorb itself in to her instead, the Doctor placed it on the Master's forehead. It made a noise, hissed up at her, then seemed to disappear before her eyes. River leant over, magnificent hair brushing the Doctor's face.

"Is that it?"

"What, were you expecting scalpels and cracking open his skull?"

"Ideally, yes!"

Now the Doctor was rolling her eyes.

"I forgot how infuriatingly murderous you can be."

"Well, you can be murderously infuriating yourself. It's why we're a good match."

Was now a good time for pouting? Probably not.

"Let me know if he wakes up."

"Who are you talking to?"

"The TARDIS, obviously. Let's let him rest, that knockout lasts a couple of hours."

River looked dubious, but then something crossed her face that the Doctor was slightly concerned about. River's moods could be a little... turbulent. That was probably the work of the Silence team trying to turn her into a murdering psycopath. They couldn't totally rewire River Song, but enough damage was done that the Doctor knew her wife would always be in shades of grey when it came to good versus evil.

Then again, the Doctor herself could hardly judge.

"That's a very good idea."

And with that, River grabbed her hand, dragging the Doctor from the room, with a ding from the TARDIS to let her know the Master was being watched over.

"Where are you going? Do you even know the way around this new one?"

"No, but she likes me."

After a few more twists and turns, they ended up in what turned out to be a bedroom. It seemed the TARDIS had designed it with River in mind, the decor feeling like the perfect backdrop for someone to be seduced to their death. Not that she expected River to kill her...

"So, while you were gone, the Master... do I have to call him that?"

"That's his name. I think he'd gut you if you called him Koschei, even if you said it in Gallifreyan."

The fact River _knew_ Old High Gallifreyan was still quite magical to the Doctor, a tongue otherwise almost completely lost. She still wasn't sure how River knew it, but assumed either the Papal Mainframe or the TARDIS gave that to her - both had the languages in their knowledge banks.

"Urgh. Fine. _He_ kept trying to get to me, though he was so lazy about it most of the time I think it was more for show than actually intending to get under my skin. At least, until he tried to make me jealous."

"Jealous? Of what?"

River's hands came up to rest on her own hips, eyes raking down the Doctor's body.

"Well, to be blunt, he said he'd 'gotten there first' when it came to your current regeneration."

She was going to _kill_ him. Her cheeks burned, undoubtedly giving her away even if she'd planned to try and lie. Not quite able to look at River, she focused on a particularly pretty part of teh wall.

"It's... not something I'm proud of, but that's sort of happened with most of my selves and him."

"Oh, I know. I just thought it was funny that he thought I'd be jealous. Our marriage has always been more fluid than monogamous."

Well, that much was true. River had mentioned having at least two wives, and then there were all the times she'd flirted or talked about dating, despite her love life having been eternally entwined with the Doctor ever since she'd regenerated from Mel to River.

"You _know?_ "

"Oh, of course. I know your type, and I know how the Master has always pushed your buttons. Is it true he was a woman?"

"Yeah, that was Missy. I never... with her. My last self wasn't big on the touching."

She had to remember that River hadn't met him yet. Which makes it weirder that she knew about Missy. Time travel lifestyles got complicated.

"What about this one?"

The implications were laid on so thickly River might as well have just leapt on her. There was something so magnetic about the other woman, and honestly the Doctor wasn't sure if it was her hair or her hearts, the swirl of Time Lord DNA wrapped around her human double helix mixed with her incredible charisma.

"Well, there's only been him, but... this one likes it."

Closing the space between them, River didn't waste time. She never did. Well, except for dramatic effect sometimes, but given that she herself could be guilty of the same, the Doctor couldn't judge. River had just enough of the right DNA to smell a little like _home_ to the Doctor, burying her face in River's neck and inhaling the scent of her wife as nimble, mischief-making fingers slid into her hair, using the grip to tip her face up. Their heights were about the same, though River's amazing hair made her look taller.

The first sweep of lips was exploring, tasting, but it was quick to become sloppy and heated. It wasn't really hard to guess what was on River's mind when she hauled the Doctor to a bedroom, but that didn't change the almost overwhelming rush of still-new feelings in her new anatomy. Tingles in places she wasn't used to. That pervasive sensation of slickness as she grew wet. The needy clench of muscles she'd not had before.

River still affected her _so_ much, even if her body didn't - well, _couldn't -_ respond in the same way it used to. Or would in the future, for River.

"Much as I love the coat, take it off or it might get ripped."

"You wouldn't!"

She slipped off the coat anyway, folding it and placing it down protectively before letting River near her again. River took in the braces on her shoulders, threw her head back and laughed aloud. It was a very pleasant view.

"Of _all_ the things to make a return."

So this was almost definitely post bowtie-Doctor River.

"I can't find trousers that fit and stay up! I don't know how earth women do it."

Still laughing, River twanged her braces playfully before pushing them down off her shoulders, and already the trousers seemed to sink an inch or two on her hips, the hem of her t-shirt peeking out and making it look like she'd never tucked it in in the first place. River, on the other hand, despite some form of theft followed by chaining a Time Lord and breaking the Doctor out of the Stormcage, being chased by Judoon guards, looked _perfectly_ put together. It was quite rude of her, really.

Except for the flush on her cheeks, blood pumped up by two hearts always quicker to display that tell-tale arousal. Feeling as though it was terribly unfair she already looked so rumpled while River looked fresh from a runway somewhere, she pushed at the snug leather jacket, gratified when it fell to the floor with a _thunk!_ that was far too loud - pockets bigger on the inside, clearly.

"What's with the rainbow stripes, really?"

"OI! I love this t-shirt. I got it in a few different colours. The t-shirt, not the rainbow. Although I suppose rainbows _do_ come in a few different colo-mmph!"

River silenced her with a bruising kiss, and any irritation at being cut off was soon melting away under the heat of her mouth, lips only seperating to move on to removing more clothes. Both her t-shirt and undershirt hit the floor, and River slowed down then to take in the new shape of her.

"Ohhh, you really did well out of this one."

With her shirts pulled out, her trousers had no incentive to stay up, slipping a couple more inches down her hips and threatening to leave the Doctor in nought but boots and underwear.

"Let me just get these off, theres a lot of laces!"

River didn't stand idly by, opting to continue undressing herself while the Doctor fiddled with her boots, distracted by increasing amounts of tanned skin on show but managing to undo the laces and kicking them off. Her trousers fell down completely when she stood up again, but River seemed very much approving.

The Master was rough, violent even when they'd fucked. River wasn't gentle, but it was all passion and desire that fuelled her as she pinned the Doctor down, one hand holding her wrists above her head while the other gripped tight at her hair, biting kisses on her mouth and jaw bringing out those whines and whimpers that River seemed immediately taken with from her. Little more time was wasted before River came down to explore her new curves, thumbing a pebbled nipple through her bra and smirking as the Doctor bucked and moaned under her.

"Oh, a _sensitive_ one. How delightful!"

Gulping, the Doctor squirmed as River's hand squeezed her more firmly, palmed her through the fabric and sucked teasingly at her collarbone. Which, as it turned out, was quite sensitive. Still getting used to the wet sensation spreading between her quivering thighs, the Doctor managed to dislodge River's hand on her wrists and roll them over, discovering just then that she'd forgotten how to remove bras other than her own. Her lovely wife was only too happy to help, both discarded to some distant part of the room before they were kissing again.

River's skin was so _hot,_ adding to the general feeling that she was on _fire_ the whole time as she shimmied down and pressed the length of their bodies together. Hands ran down her back, squeezed at the side of her hips. kissing lazily as hands began to map the routes their eyes had already picked out. One of her hands couldn't resist River's hair, a handful of those wild curls absolutely essential to her in that moment.

Wriggling under her, River managed to wedge her thigh between the Doctors' own, and the pressure of that tight thigh muscle against her soaked cotton shorts (she hadn't stopped wearing boxers just because she'd regenerated) was enough to make her body shudder all over, to tear a needy moan from her throat. River was smug as could be, splaying her hand against the Doctors lower back and using it to encourage her to rut against River's thigh, no matter how pathetically desperate it might have made her seem. A penis seemed so... _central,_ like it was super clear where to touch, where was sensitive.

But now _everywhere_ felt so tender, the grind enough to have her own thighs spasming each time River tensed under her. With the Master, it hadn't been so much foreplay as him satisfying his own curiousities about her new body. River was _all_ about the seduction, the tease, the breaking through nerves over inexperience until she had her lover trembling atop her. Those damned fingers of hers were back around swollen nipples, the visual alone of River's bare chest beneath her enough to knock the breath from her chest and the steady pressure against maddeningly sensitive spots just _too much._

The shake and squeeze of her thighs as she comes is still unfamiliar, but the _rush_ of it all is unparalleled, River's scent in her lungs and the shared _thump-thump thump-thump_ of double heartbeats pushing her higher, dimly aware of how soaked her shorts are as she slumps, River's hands moving to hold her hips and keep her upright while the Doctor tries to catch her breath.

She realises River is giggling, and it's admittedly a small knock to her confidence at a rather vulnerable moment.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Just... you make the _exact_ same sound when you come as you did before. I suppose I expected that to change, since your voice and accent have."

"Oh."

River moved, arms circling her as she rolled the Doctor back on to her back.

"Did you think I was laughing _at_ you sweetie? Absolutely not!"

The reassurance was welcomed, as was the little pet name, but the feel of her wet shorts getting cold wasn't entirely pleasant. Somehow, she didn't expect River to mind her next request.

"I really need to take these off."

"Allow me."

River slid them down her legs happily, removing her own to "even the score" before shamelessly taking in the bared skin, kneeling between the Doctor's legs so she couldn't close them and hide, shy when it wasn't such a rush like before. It was very rare she _cared_ whether or not a regeneration came out conventionally attractive, but it was different with River. River was bewitching and she _knew_ it, had weaponised her natural beauty and seduction for both good and evil cause alike. The Doctor wasn't sure whether the capability to knock out her higher brain function counted as good or evil.

It was _hard_ not to get transfixed by River's hair, honestly, but the Doctor managed to push through as she found her nerve - maybe _she'd_ regenerated and had a whole host of new things to learn about her body, but she knew River's body already, and that was a much-needed confidence boost to her racing mind.

And, with the filthy sounds she made between breathy, lewd encouragements, River certainly knew how to refresh her memory. That spot on the side of her neck still made River clutch the sheets when the Doctor sank her teeth down, one hand coming up to grip at her hair when she sucked a bruise into golden skin. It sent shivers down her spine, the flickers of pain, the memory of rougher hands on her. Shaking off those thoughts, she focused on River, soothing her tongue over the bruise, thrilling in the ragged panting breaths of her wife.

Fuck, the woman was all _curves,_ with those criminal hips and, in River's own words, "cleavage that could fell an ox". If River thought the Doctor had done well out of regeneration, personally, the Doctor felt like River won the regeneration lottery. And she was effectively stuck that way, having given up all her regenerations to save the Doctor. After trying to kill him. Her? Oh, it was confusing.

Her hands were smaller than she was used to, but the way River's breasts were just a little too big for her hands didn't seem like much of a hardship, and River responded to her touch in _all_ the right ways, fingers still flexing in her hair, the little sharp tugs against her scalp turning her on even more. It's hard to decide what to do, where to go, how best to arouse _and_ watch her wife writhe under her.

River's two hearts thundered in her chest, strong enough to feel when the Doctor pressed her lips down on the skin there, tasting the faint tang of sweat. River's taste was unique; Time Lord enough to affect parts of her humans couldn't, human enough that she couldn't mistake it for anyone else. Her scent edged slightly more to Time Lord, but only just, and it was still undeniably _River._

Her instincts were a little off; old habits made her want to press between River's thighs with her hips, or hike River up on top of hers, but they didn't quite fit together in the same manner anymore. Well, at least she was _very_ happy to learn to get past that.

When her mouth reached a swollen, straining nipple, River cursed colourfully in a language that even the TARDIS could barely translate, and the low groan of the machine herself told the Doctor she certainly didn't even want to _try_ to, because it was utter filth, and her TARDIS probably considered herself above such things. Did everyone get such attitude from their somewhat-sentient home/vehicle?

_Focus, brain! Why does this one have such scattered tracks for trains of thought?_

It wasn't that River wasn't captivating, because she definitely was, it was just her brain wasn't very good at staying in one place. If there was ever a good place to stay, it was probably on River.

The rough tugging in her hair was a little distracting too, making her ache and throb and shudder. Lifting her mouth from River's breast, she looked up in case the tugs were a request for her attention.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing at all, as you were!"

Chuckling, the Doctor resumed her 'work', hearing more multi-lingual expletives above her in between encouragement for her to go on and feeling those incredible hips bucking under her. She thrilled in River's gasps and moans as she continued down, leaving another mark just above her hip and watching goosebumps erupt across her body.

When she looked up, the naked desire in River's face was positively _obscene_ just to look at, sending a pulse of heat through her belly as she took in the messy curls and hooded eyes, the pink flush that stains her skin from just below her collarbone all the way up to the apple of her cheeks. She brushed her lips just below River's navel, her hips tipping upward in clear invitation, shamelessly spreading her legs wider. The heady scent of River's arousal filled her senses, had her own hips pushing against the bed underneath and feeling a sense of frustration that it didn't feel like it used to.

The hand not still in her hair had already moved, River thumbing her own nipple and watching with those smouldering eyes as she waited patiently for her lover. Unable to help herself any longer, the Doctor moved in, moaning at the taste of River filling her mouth as she dragged her tongue along her wifes slit, remembering to flick over the very tip of her clit. The full-body shudder it inspired was incredibly satisfying, as were the little zaps of pain in her scalp when River's hand tightened again.

 _This,_ she could do no matter whether her form was male, female or any other possible sex. River was as responsive as ever, a constant _"yes, yes, yes!"_ falling from her lips as the many hours dedicated by the Doctor's previous selves paid off, tongue tracing memorised paths, lips brushing the most sensitive spots to tease with the barely-there sensation. The warmth and slickness coating her face had the Doctor squeezing her own thighs together, body seeking relief from the searing heat built between the two of them.

River was _so_ wet, she took two fingers without resistance, and while it wasn't quite the same to feel muscles clench aroundher fingers rather than her cock, it was _immensely_ satisfying all the same, feeling River shake all over and try to push down on her fingers. The hand in her hair pulled as hips pushed down, pressing herself harder against the Doctor's tongue, River's back arching up when lips sealed around her clit and suckled gently, thighs tightening when fingers curled up and tongue traced firm circles, the pressure on all her sensitive nerves combined with the way River still played with herself.

The Doctor came up just as River started to spasm, unable to help but need to _see_ her wife climax, and every aspect of River in the throes of an orgasm was utterly riveting, from the way her hips bucked wildly to the way her head tipped back, baring the proud lovebite on her throat as her thighs twitched and her toes curled into the sheets. Actually, the Doctor only noticed just then as she ran her eyes down her quivering body, that River's toes were painted. With _TARDIS blue_ nail polish. Oh, she really was something else entirely.

Panting, flushed and looking the picture of debauchery, River watched with that same heated stare as the Doctor licked her fingers, savouring the musky taste of River there. She crawled up the length of River's body eventually, slumping happily next to her and feeling River run a hand down her back, tracing the bumps of her spine. If she closed her eyes, she could pick out the sound of River's hearts pounding in time with her own.

They stayed there for a little while, catching their breath, looking at each other. The Doctor still wasn't sure where in River's timeline _this_ was, as she'd never mentioned to her other selves about a Stormcage breakout that wasn't River's own, but then River was exceptionally good about _spoilers._

The TARDIS cloister bell rang at her, just once, and she remembered asking it to keep an eye on their convalescent guest.

"I should go check on the Master."

Putting on a great, reluctant pout, River lifted her hand from the Doctors skin.

"Do hurry back, I'm not done with this new body of yours yet."

Grinning and feeling the pulse of anticipation low in her belly, the Doctor nodded before something occurred to her.

"I do have one question for you about him though."

Pushing sweat damp curls off her face, River quirked one slim eyebrow.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Why _do_ you always have handcuffs?"

-DW-

**Like I said, out of hand. It got kinda long. Turns out I ship 13/River harder than I thought. It's cool. Third chapter can happen!**

**(If you've never read my writing before... this happens a lot more than I care to admit)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Tw for choking and rough sex in this chapter, though not at the same time.**

-DW-

He was still sleeping when they got there, but she could see he was starting to wake up. A quick scan said the inhibitor was still _there,_ which meant that soon enough, she was going to have to put her money where her mouth was. So to speak.

The Master groaned, tried to stretch and found himself halted by his chains. He growled; his voice was rough with sleep and the Doctor did her best not to like it.

"Get these damned things off me!"

As they were hers, the Doctor gestured to River.

"You'd better be sure about this Doctor."

"If not, you have a gun and can fly the TARDIS, I'm sure you'll figure something out."

"Urgh. You could have at least showered."

River rolled her eyes.

"We did. It was a very pleasant shower, actually."

The Doctor couldn't argue with that, still a little weak in the knees from the feeling of River's mouth. When she had a penis, River had done things with her mouth that were _illegal_ in some solar systems... and the intensity hadn't changed just because her equipment had, as it transpired.

"Must just be the smell of the mongrel."

River didn't rise to his bait, answering smoothly.

"Oh, do shut up dear."

River finally popped the lock of his shackles, both collar and cuffs coming open as one as she stepped back. The Master tore them off and threw the metal down, on his feet in seconds and starting to shake out the tension of having been bound.

"Well then, time to pay up."

The Doctor nodded, swallowing thickly. He'd let her put the restrictor in. It was only fair she hold her end up.

"Give it a go. The last guy couldn't strangle me. Bit old school, but you've tried before."

At the top of the tower, when he was masquerading as a Nazi soldier to track her down. Now, in his slightly battered purple suit, though his colouring was a little better for the sleep, the Master looked a bit less threatening. And there was no great fall waiting over a slightly flimsy looking railing.

With him standing so close, eyes surprisingly intense and her body still thrumming from River's explorations, the Doctor had to fight to remember it wasn't one of their ill-advised trysts and that she was offering him the chance to possibly almost murder her. Almost, because, well, she probably had some more regenerations in her, and there was an armed wife close by.

His face was oddly curious for a minute, taking her in. The Doctor wondered if he could _feel_ the inhibitor, or if it was only tangible when he tested the limit of it. There was always a chance it wouldn't work at all.

He lunged, bare skin of his palm hot against her neck before his fingers were tightening. His palm squeezed tight against her windpipe, fingers holding back bloodflow to her brain. Even with a Time Lord's tolerance for holding her breath, she'd still be dizzy before long. Just as River started to say "Doctor-" in a warning tone of _do you need rescuing?,_ she saw the Master's face scrunch up, felt his grip melt away as both hands lifted to press against his head.

As she sucked in several deep breaths, hearts pounding, the Master was growling with frustration; he'd been more placid earlier, accepting anything for the sake of his freedom but now it had _worked,_ he was obviously not happy. River moved to her side, examining her neck carefully.

"I'm... fine."

Ever so slightly - and perhaps _disturbingly_ \- aroused, because that was just what her body often _did_ when the Master inflicted pain on it, the Doctor tried to reassure her wife, who had never really thought much of the idea to begin with. They both watched the Master wrestle with his rage. With the phantom sensation of his hand on her throat lingering still, the Master whipped around, eyes dark and furious and at odds with his newly cool, calm demeanour.

"Well, I can still hurt you in other ways. I could break your hearts and tell you what happened to Missy. Tell how you how I became... me."

Swallowing thickly, hearts still beating hard in her cjest, the Doctor knew he was baiting her but she _needed_ to know.

"What happened to her?"

"Well, me and... me were waiting for the lift, and Missy started to have a little crisis of conscience. I think she... well, _I,_ had quite a few, but I digress. She pulled me in ever so close" he actually stepped forward, though he didn't _hug_ the Doctor "and told me how much she'd loved being her former self, and how she missed the fire he burned with. And just as she stabbed himself in the back, she promised to remember it always. She was coming back to help you, but he wouldn't stand for it. Gave her the full dose of his laser screwdriver, which is not the euphemism he wished it to be."

The Doctor went through several emotions at once, one being _guilt_ for dismissing Missy completely there at the end, and pain for knowing what her choice got her. And also confusion.

"That screwdriver suspends regeneration. How did Missy become you?"

"Well, you see, I fancied myself a little too much. Quite literally. And Missy, being as brilliant as me, because she is me, or was me... anyway, yes, she fiddled with his screwdriver. Sadly also not a euphemism. Isomorphic controls, so they responded to her. But I think she knew just enough not to trust herself. And she was right."

He paused for breath, stretching out the kinks in his shoulders, looking lazy and leisurely even as he obviously fed on her responses.

"I don't _entirely_ remember getting off the ship, to be honest. It's possible I found an emergency teleport earlier on and never told anyone... or something, but since we had the TARDIS, I didn't expect to need it. Plus the time streams were still knocked out of sync with two of us dying at the same time, same place, and I was regenerating the whole time so things got a bit blurry... her dress didn't quite fit me, so I woke up with my bodice all ripped open. Shocked the first person who saw me. I ditched the heels."

"Should have kept them. You didn't really win in the height department this time."

River snarked, and the Master scowled.

"At least I don't overcompensate for it with my hair."

"Will you two behave? Honestly, you're worse than an old married couple."

"Blame the mongrel, she butted in when I wasn't talking to her."

Rolling her eyes, the Doctor stood in between them and gave them both disapproving looks.

 _"Both_ of you, stop it! This is a very big ship, and I _will_ seperate you."

They both scowled and turned away, muttering under their breath. It was that moment that the Doctor was reminded; she _definitely_ had a type. Reigning herself in with the residual guilt she had for doubting Missy so, the Doctor looked to the Master.

"Why don't you go clean yourself up? You know where the wardrobe is from when you were O and we went to that party."

He grumbled - she knew he was fond of that purple suit, but it was pretty battered after everything he'd put it through recently - but stomped off, swearing at the TARDIS and getting several chastising rumbles in return. After watching him go, she turned back to her wife.

"Going to order me around too?"

"If I thought you'd listen. I need to go set up a scan to look for the Cyberium."

"What _is_ a Cyberium?"

"Spoilers."

River tsked as she followed the Doctor back to the console room, settling in a casually seductive pose as she draped herself across the bench.

"That's my line."

As the Doctor hummed to herself, she wondered. River had thought she only had twelve faces. If she hadn't met Mr Attack Eyebrows yet, but _had_ met the next Doctor after him, why didn't she remember?

"Well, as I know you haven't reached one of my earlier selves yet, I can't go giving you advance knowledge. So yes, spoilers. Just sit there and behave for like, five minutes. Please?"

Sighing as though it was a great hardship, River chuckled.

"Oh alright. Five minutes, and not a second more."

Quite certain River was going to hold her to it, the Doctor got to work with the console, tapping buttons, twisting knobs, feeling the TARDIS telepathic circuits respond to her and watching the screen. The Gallifreyan symbols twirled their way around the monitor, taking on the data from the sonic about the Cyberium to look for any trace. The universe was a big place, and she mostly expected it to be gone, but with what it was capable of... it paid to be sure.

"Done?"

River asked, already starting to rise from her perch.

"Yeah, now I-" before the thought could finish, her stomach growled loudly "guess I need to eat something. You?"

The TARDIS kitchen had foodstuffs from many galaxies, but all the Doctor could think about was fried egg sandwiches. River did not share her love for them, chewing on some of the finest chocolate in the galaxy. Actually, the Doctor had no idea where she'd found that. It must have been stolen; some of those bars were sold for the income of a small planet. The Master found them there, and the Doctor was mildly embarrassed by her reaction. Or lack of. He'd picked out a dark blue button up - she _liked_ blue - and black trousers. The trousers were rather snug, and he'd left the top two buttons of his shirt undone. She wasn't sure why _that_ was what grabbed her attention so easily. He'd obviously showered and shaved, hair clean and soft looking, stubble nicely shaped again.

"Doctor?"

River's voice jolted her from something of a reverie, clearing her throat and turning back to her now-cold sandwich. The Master was smirking so smugly it was audible.

"Feeling better?"

"No."

"Well, suit yourself."

Both River and the Master looked a bit confused. What was she saying? Clearly, she needed to occupy her mouth with sandwiches.

"How long am I going to be stuck on this godforsaken ship?"

"I don't know yet."

He rolled his eyes, before they dropped and lingered. At first, she thought he was checking her out, but then realised his gaze had stopped at her neck.

"What is it?"

River was looking too.

"You have bruises starting to come up."

Doing her best not to think of the thrill of fear and pain under his hand earlier, the Doctor shrugged it off.

"Oh. Better sort them before I check on the fam. They'll worry."

"Oh, your pets survived too? How depressing."

"Behave."

Strutting as though he owned the place, the Master opened a fridge at random, grabbed a few completely uncomplimentary things - come to think of it, the Doctor couldn't think when she'd last seen him _eat_ something... when he was O, perhaps? - before he disappeared.

As soon as she finished her sandwich, the Doctor found herself being rather forcibly 'persuaded' to the medical room, so River could tend to her neck.

"You're not very subtle, you know."

"I know. It's an ongoing problem with this whole regeneration. I swear, everything comes out on my face!"

River, obviously more than comfortable finding her way around, pulled out a balm for the bruising and pushed the Doctor into a seated position so she could begin applying it.

"I'm not the jealous type, but you know he's no good for you."

"I know that too. Then again, you're no angel either. You did kill me."

"I also brought you back."

"Saxon fought off the Time Lords. Missy was turning back to help me. That's the thing about all of us. We're all a mix of past and future selves, echoes of who we were and calls to who we can be."

The ache in her neck faded as River worked, quiet for a moment or two before she screwed the lid back on the pot and put it away.

"Except me. I will always be this."

"So? You say that like it's a bad thing. Ok, so you're not perfect. Who is? Certainly not me. Doesn't change that I chose you. I have, or perhaps I will, tell you my _name._ Do you know how very unique that makes you?"

River shrugged tightly.

"He knows."

"He was there when I was a kid, before that name became a secret buried deep beneath my hearts. I _chose_ to tell you. You were my _choice._ Even after Madam Kavarian. Even though you killed me. My bespoke psycopath."

That finally got River to look at her again; jealous, she wasn't. Insecure against the history between her and the Master? Perhaps.

River wouldn't hold her gaze.

"Stop that."

"What?"

"That thing you do with your face. This one is ever so... _earnest."_

The Doctor let out a laugh.

"I can't seem to help it, this one really went for it with the expressions. The last me just had a variety of scowls and a smile I got told was scary a few times. I had very, very angry eyebrows. And I think someone told me I ran like a penguin with it's arse on fire. He did have _much_ longer legs than I have now."

She remembered that from her first day as herself. That jump on the crane when they were dealing with Tim Shaw would have been _much_ easier if she'd still had those legs. River was cracking up laughing by then, which was far preferable to that awkward half-sadness of before. It was well worth perhaps saying a _bit_ too much, but then she remembered River hadn't recognised her. Him. So whatever she said now hadn't been enough of a hint. Still, she supposed she better stop with the spoilers.

"That reminds me! I need to go look for some new boots. These ones are all worn out from the running."

Following the habit River had, the Doctor leapt up, grabbing her wifes hand and pulling her along. River resisted long enough to pick up the rest of her chocolate before allowing herself to be led, the two dashing through the TARDIS until they happened upon the wardrobe at last. The Master hadn't been terribly tidy about his searching, clothes discarded in piles that hadn't been there the last time they were there, hunting for stuff suitable for that black tie party.

"Oh, I forgot how much I love this room."

It took the Doctor five minutes to locate some new boots that fit her, and another ten to lace them up the way she liked. It was another couple of _hours_ before they left the wardrobe. River picked out all sorts of outfits, and the impromptu fashion show was very, _very_ enjoyable. Nothing in the wardrobe was particularly lewd, but that didn't stop River looking the epitome of seduction.

They weren't alone, but the Doctor stayed quiet about that. And then she was too distracted to notice... they left the wardrobe in perhaps more of a state than when they got there, but she had new boots and a fresh bruise on her healed neck, courtesy of River's teeth. River was quite pleased with a few of her finds in the wardrobe too, complaining she didn't know where her red heels had gotten to.

"I think I saw them in London. Hard to say. That whole... incident is blurry."

Three of her selves in one place. Gallifrey. Kate Stewart. Zygons. A rabbit. And marrying the 'virgin' queen... rubbing her head, the Doctor followed River, barely allowed to take off her new boots before River was tackling her down to the bed again, seeming endlessly keen to explore her latest incarnation.

It was two spent, sated bodies that slumped into the ruined bed some time later, RIver laughing as the Doctor did her best to extricate herself from twisted sheets.

"It's not funny! They're trying to trap me!"

"Oh, you are ridiculous."

Despite her mockery, River _did_ help her escape eventually. Though neither went far, falling asleep where they lay.

She woke first, found River laid on her side still deeply asleep. The Doctor took her in, curls a magnificent mess splayed across two pillows and her bare skin undoubtedly tanned by the suns of many solar systems. Her lips were slightly parted in slumber, double-beats of her heart slow and rhythmic, calm as she rested. Her wife was beautiful, no doubt about it.

The Doctor took stock of her body as she slipped from the bed, finding her rainbow striped t-shirt and discarded boxer shorts on the floor and dressing quietly. Small aches here and there, not unpleasant to experience if she was honest. A glimpse in the mirror was sore viewing, even in a darkened room. Patting her messy hair down, she noted a second lovebite on her neck. River had figured out pretty quickly that her current form liked it... rough. She slipped socks on her feet, knowing the floors could get cold.

Not bothering with additional layers or fussing with her oversized trousers and braces, the Doctor went wandering, unable to stay in bed with the sudden bout of restless energy. The TARDIS was dim, cool and quiet, only the occasional thrum of an engine echoing through the ship now and then.

"Bored of the mongrel already?"

His voice found her before her eyes found him, leaning casually against a wall like he spent all his time wandering the halls, waiting to find the Doctor wandering around half-dressed.

"Don't call her that."

He shrugged.

"It's what she is."

"Isn't it what you all are now?"

That made him scowl, though he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from her state of undress for long.

"So, why are you bumbling around like... that?"

She shrugged.

"It's my ship. River needs more sleep than I do."

He pushed himself up from the wall rather suddenly, and the Doctor took a step back on instinct. The Master tutted, fingers coming up to press against her jaw, turning her head to the side.

"Marking her territory?"

"No. River's not like that. She knows I just enjoy a little... pain in my play."

He _knew_ that. So why did the Doctor feel exposed admitting it, when he'd seen her go to pieces under his rough hands so many times, in so many bodies?

His eyes dragged down her body, left her feeling utterly naked despite what she had on.

"Which reminds me of why I was looking for you."

"You were?"

Did he _need_ to stand so close? The open buttons at his collar drew her eye, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.

"Yes. I realised as I felt your pulses race under my fingers before" the Doctor _really_ hoped her face didn't look as warm as it felt "that I don't know just what the limits of this... thing are."

He tapped his head, referring to the restrictor that resided deep in his brain.

"What do you mean, _limits?"_

"Oh, I think you know Doctor. And, given what you've just admitted to, and the fact you're almost as fond of my current body as _I_ am... I'd say it's in both our interests for you to help me find out."

She wondered if he'd ever just say he wanted her, wondered if it was ever going to stop being played as some kind of twisted back and forth.

A deeply buried part of her even wondered if he might _stay..._

He slammed her into the wall with his weight, her mouth not even opened to complain before he was kissing her. It was as rough and fiery as his kisses ever were, the taste of some exotic, bittersweet fruit on his tongue. She hated herself for how easily any resistance faded, but River knew as well as the Doctor did that some part of her would never be able to turn the Master away for good. Greatest enemy and oldest friend all rolled in to one. Everything left of their kind all on one spaceship, bouncing around the depths of the universe.

Just enough of her brain was working to push him away, the Master growling in irritation.

"Not here."

The room he'd taken wasn't far. The TARDIS had made him comfortable, it seemed; the colour scheme was all dark wood and sharp edges, but his bed was wide and comfortable, and it made a change from crashing down against the floor with him, or being pinned to a wall somewhere.

If he realised the change, he didn't say it. Nor did she.

His stubble scratched against her face, dragged against her jaw as he ducked down and bit her neck, fingers burying themselves in her hair and _yanking._ It stung in all those awful, delicious ways, tingles running through her.

She hadn't bathed after leaving her wife's bed; he _must_ have been able to smell River on her, but suddenly that scent didn't seem to bother him at all. She'd known he was exaggerating, but it was even more clear just then.

The Doctor arched up into his mouth, and the shivers of pain and pleasure that darted through her seemed to have confirmed already that the restrictions on him did not extend to consensual sadism during sex. Then again, he'd definitely been rougher than hickies and hair pulling before.

Or was that just her own internal justification for letting it continue?

His shirt was tossed aside before long, exposing his chest to her eyes. He'd burned through a little of his weight while carrying the Cyberium, but he was still strong and solid against her when his body settled over hers.

 _Something_ was different, and she couldn't quite place it for a while. He peeled off her t-shirt, seeming pleased to find nothing but bare skin underneath it. Rough hands groped her, fresh bruises on her collarbones and the burn of stubble on her chest left in his wake before the Master was biting at tender skin, sucking roughly enough at her nipple for it to leave her _aching,_ almost delirious with pleasure.

It was only when he lifted his head and looked into her eyes that she realised what it was niggling at her, realised what was different. It wasn't just that his eyes no longer promised a massacre the moment they were finished.

It was the drum beat. The Saxon-Master had showed it to her once before. The heart beat of a Time Lord, sent back through time to take root in the mind of the Master. They'd tormented him for all his lives, just to have a way back. And not even in _peace_ that time; they'd planned to let the universe be torn to shreds, to reign alone free of any consequence.

The Master had dropped his mental barrier. He was letting her see inside his head. She could see the fire, hear the explosions and shattering glass. There were images of the great glass dome cracking, screams and pleas and always, _always_ the drums.

"They're still there."

Her fingers brushed his cheek, her fingers pale against his dark skin.

"They fixed my never-ending death, but left the drums. I think they thought it was funny."

There was never, _ever_ going to be an excuse for the vicious, indiscriminate anger and actions of the Master. But that didn't excuse the cruelty of the Time Lords either. They'd _both_ been playthings, pawns in someone else's game who'd gone in _very_ different directions to forge their own way.

He'd never let her in so... openly before. She didn't offer the same in return, not when her thoughts were so tumultuous, but she was gentle with the winding paths laid out in his mind and didn't force her way through his memories. The vulnerability in his face faded but her memory of it never would, even as he turned back to the biting and bruising they both enjoyed a little too much. The boxers she'd put on were all but ripped from her body, leaving her bare save for her socks, which she quickly wriggled out of too.

His nails raked down her inner thigh, legs spasming in surprise as she gasped. His smug smirk at her response was decidedly unearned, she decided. Any retort she had died in her throat when she felt his tongue. It was acid when he spoke and silver when he tasted her, rough and demanding, nails digging in to her thighs when he wrapped his arms around them to hold her in place so the Doctor couldn't squirm away.

River had already spent several hours tormenting her in all manner of pleasant ways, and the Doctor was still a little tender to the touch, hypersensitive to every stroke of his tongue over her clit, muscles clenching needily around nothing.

Even as he bit her, leaving those splotchy bruises under his fingertips with the power of his grip, the Doctor knew something had shifted. Just a little. As though the Cyberium had left a small crack somewhere. He was still the Master, still Koschei, still a madman... but they were linked in a way that could never be undone now, by the secret of the Timeless Child. Maybe one day, he'd stop resenting her for it.

They both worked to get his trousers off; flattering as they were on him, both wanted the skin-to-skin sensations. His hands knotted in her hair again, their kiss messy, teeth and tongue clashing as she felt the Master _push,_ filling her in one burning thrust. It was enough to make her shake under him, thighs twitching against his.

It wasn't long before she knew they weren't alone. If he noticed, he didn't say. River seemed content to watch in silence, half shadowed and looking awfully appealing wearing nothing but the Doctor's coat... it was hard enough for the Doctor to focus when there was only _one..._ lover? sexual partner? in the mix. With River's eyes on them and the Master's cock deep inside her, bruises throbbing on her skin and scalp stinging with his tight grip...

well, the fact she could focus on _anything_ was an achievement.

His slipping back into Gallifreyan was enough to make her a little dizzy; he hadn't spoken to her in that tongue for a _long_ time. Her hands tightened against his back before she tensed her muscles and managed to flip them. He grunted in complaint, though his eyes lit up when he saw her shudder in pain, his hands still twisted tight in her hair.

It was clear he _did_ know River was there - either that, or he just didn't _care_ when small, warm hands covered his, unwinding each of his fingers until her hair was free. River's hand replaced it, less rough but no less _firm_ as she turned the Doctor's head, mouth sweet and rich with chocolate as they kissed.

"I don't remember agreeing to share."

The Master, as petulant as anyone _could_ look while still feeling the slick heat of her around his cock, scowled, but she heard his hearts quicken, knew the sight did something for the most base, primal parts of him.

"Oh, do be quiet dear. We've been sharing the Doctor as long as she's been the Doctor. With each other and half the universe. Not to mention the ship."

Were they really arguing about her _during_ sex? Actually, she wasn't that surprised. More surprised that nothing had exploded - not like _that!_ \- yet, if she was honest. River dragged the very tip of her nail over fresh bite marks, soothed her free hand over the Doctor's still-sore scalp.

"I suppose you call this science? Testing the limits of his restrictor?"

"S-something like that."

Not to be ignored, the Master was still flexing his hips beneath her, his smirk visible in the corner of her eye whenever he made her voice shake. As though it was something perfectly ordinary for her to be doing, River shucked the coat, though she was polite enough to place it down carefully.

Actually, it sort of was. They'd had threesomes before. And moresomes. River was an adventurous woman. Never another Time Lord though...

The Doctor let out a giggle, which had both the Master and River looking at her oddly.

"What's funny?"

"Just... strange to hear four beats that aren't my own."

The Master frowned, blinking before he looked to River.

"She has two hearts?"

Shameless as ever, River pulled his hand from the Doctor's hip, placing it against her own chest. His face was a _picture_ as he felt the tell tale double beat.

"You could have let him feel your _wrist_."

River winked, mouth stretched into a glorious, mischievious grin.

"Oh Doctor, where's the fun in that?"

Somewhere in the back of her mind, the Doctor couldn't help but wonder if River had simply come up with the best way to stop the Master's derisive commentary. It was pretty hard to dislike a naked River Song. Even more so one who was openly encouraging touching of said naked body.

"How?"

She wasn't from Gallifrey, after all. Not that Gallifrey produced the _only_ binary vascular system in the universe, but it was _pretty_ rare. And the Master only knew River had regenerated at least once before.

"Exposure. River was conceived in the Time Vortex."

If it were for anything less shatteringly surprising, the Doctor might have felt slighted by how distracted he was. His mind still open to her, she could see the way his thoughts tumbled, trying to work out what it all meant, what it _could_ mean. River's hand slid down her back, squeezing cheekily at her backside and the resulting jolt jerked the Master's attention back to her.

There was something utterly, completely incredible and explosive about the moment the Doctor came whimpering against River's mouth, the Master's hands tight on her hips and River's trailing up and down her spine as she shuddered. Three people, six hearts, the Master's mind still close enough to explore and River's hair tickling the side of her cheek as the TARDIS wound them gently through deep space.

It was probably the closest the Doctor was ever going to feel to _home_ ever again. Not that she was going to be sharing that with River or the Master. They'd call her sentimental, and she was feeling a little too vulnerable to open up to both at the same time just yet.

Maybe some day...

"Come on sweetie, up you get."

River had her up and draped rather gracelessly across the bed before the Doctor realised what was going on, trying to blink away the hallucination before she realised it was actually happening; for all his 'mongrel' comments before, the Master seemed more than content with River taking the Doctor's place on top of him.

Oh, they were a little bit gorgeous together, actually. Head still pleasantly fuzzy with post-coital hormones, reward chemicals swimming in her blood, the Doctor was transfixed by the display before her. River took his rougher touches happily, and the Master let her ride him as she pleased, her head thrown back sending those magnificent curls shaking, tumbling, quivering even when she slowed to tease him with comments that he'd better last for her.

At some point, the Doctor was going to have to test whether or not he liked being bossed around, at least during sex. The fact she seemed so certain there would be more occurrences in the future probably should've registered, but she was still too pleasantly blissed out by her climax, by the fact River and the Master were... getting along? At least for the moment. They were done before long with each other... but not with her.

As soon as the Master realised he could have a partner in crime in torturing her, he suddenly seemed much happier to share with River. One of them held her wrists while the other touched her, and though she _could_ have gotten free, the Doctor had no inclination to, even as they taunted and teased her; both of them had an awfully arousing habit of low, breathy chuckles in her ear, and it was unfair how much it affected her.

She was already completely hooked, if she was honest.

Dizzy and sore and sweaty, the Doctor laid spent upon the bed, wondering _where_ those two got their energy before putting it down to sheer bloody competitiveness, refusing to be the first to admit they were done. So the Doctor just watched their entwined limbs, hearts pounding when River cursed colourfully at the Master in Gallifreyan, the gentle music of their language coarsened by her choice of words. And yet, it was _River,_ so it still sounded lovely.

It was a weird night of weird things... but the night wasn't done surprising her. Or at least, the Master wasn't.

A common thread of most of their past encounters was how quickly he was dressed and leaving when they were done. Of course, they'd never been on a bed, in her TARDIS before. Before tonight, the Doctor couldn't remember when she'd actually seen him _sleep._

And yet, there he was, making himself at home in his chosen bed and closing his eyes. Granted, he may not have been asleep. The Doctor wasn't about to poke him and see.

Not content to remain quite so messy, River commented that she was leaving to shower. Waving her wife off, the Doctor sat on the bed, watching the Master (possibly) sleep. The events of the last few days had been... a _lot._

And while it probably wasn't _the_ smartest idea in the world, the Doctor opted to sleep there. River came back, and so despite the myriad of available places to sleep on the TARDIS, the three of them shared that bed.

When she woke, the Master was already awake. They looked at each other silently for a minute or two, River asleep behind her, one warm arm resting across the Doctor's waist. She felt the brush against her mind, gentler than he'd ever been before. She _tried,_ but couldn't quite allow it. She did use the basic link between all Time Lords to speak to him, hoping it would reassure.

"Not yet. But I'll get there."

Her mind was still a little messy after everything on Gallifrey. He didn't answer, but he also didn't throw a tantrum. So she called it progress, and then realised she needed to extricate herself from River's hold, because _damn_ she was thirsty. Not too surprising after the long night, she supposed.

The Master watched quite openly as she slid naked from the bed. It was the longest she'd gone without clothes since regenerating!

"If I leave, are you going to behave?"

"No, I'm coming too."

He rose from the bed, stretching before he pulled on his trousers. Seeing as he wasn't using it, the Doctor picked up his blue shirt and threw that on, adding a pair of stolen boxers to her hoard of his things before remembering she was going to the kitchen. The Master followed her, giving her 'outfit' a confused look or two before he went back to helping himself to whatever he liked. She downed two glasses of water, feeling a lot better for it when she was done.

"Where are you going now?"

"To get dressed! I can't go see my fam dressed like this. Well, I could... but there would be a lot of awkward questions. They've not even _met_ River yet."

That was going to be an experience. Graham was probably going to hide in a cupboard, as he'd already had that whole thing with Jack. She still had to go find Jack... maybe when things with the Master were more settled. There were only so many people who were keen to get into her pants the Doctor could handle at once.

She'd showered and dressed and headed to the console room before River rose, wearing nothing but a dressing gown she'd probably stolen from the Master's bedroom. Her already wild curls were absolute chaos by then, and her features were a little soft with sleep. She looked _divine._

They shared breakfast - not a fried egg sandwich, sadly - before River noted that the Doctor was cleaned up and properly dressed again. Or at least, before she commented on it.

"What are you up to now?"

"Oh. I need to go find my friends on Earth, let them know I lived. The last time we saw each other, they thought I was going to die. And I dropped some future folk there, I need to go confiscate their weapons before they change human history."

Bemused, River followed her to the console room, where the Master was prowling, pacing, looking at the machine. Hopefully he wasn't planning something awful. She wasn't naive enough to assume he was... fixed, in any way, though the Doctor did think she ought to try and see if they could do something about the drums in his head.

He knew her plan, gave her a distasteful look.

"Must you? I do so despise _Earth._ "

He spat the word as though it disgusted him to taste the letters on his tongue.

"You can stay in here. The TARDIS won't let you fly her if I'm not on board anyway."

He rolled his eyes.

"Such a lack of trust!"

As she began programming in the right date range to find her fam, the Doctor heard River and the Master snarking at each other again. Everything went awful _quiet_ behind her, and she turned with some slight trepidation only to find some very, _very_ telling looks being exchanged between the two of them.

"We'll just... let you see your friends."

And with that, both River and the Master disappeared in what she strongly suspected was the direction of a bedroom. Well, the Doctor mused as she hit a few buttons and pushed a lever or two, at least those two had finally found some common ground. Maybe they might even get through a whole twenty four hours without death threats some day... as though hearing her thoughts, River's voice echoed back to her.

"I will slap you!"

 _Yeah... unlikely,_ she laughed to herself.

-DW-

**No. No Hark. It's done. Step away! *plot bunnies arrive en masse, burying me in piles of ideas***


End file.
